Heretofore it has been the practice to sample fluids in settling basins at the surface to obtain a count on the suspended solids at the surface. Heretofore most settling basins are filled constantly and spill over an outlet weir at the far discharge end and when the basin is full of solids to a pre-determined depth, the liquid is drawn off and the solids removed and the process continued.
Improvements in settling basin technology and the impact of environmental considerations have led to development of new processes whereby the basin will be filled, held for settling, sampled at various depths, and then emptied from the top down so as to hold most of the suspended solids in check. As a result of this new approach to the treatment of fluids in settling basins, the need has arisen for a different type of sampling device, namely a device which is capable of sampling the fluid at varying depths from its surface to the bottom of the basin. Prior art devices of which I am aware do not have the capability of sampling the fluid at varying depths within the settling basin, only at the surface.